Bail set for man charged in sex assault

May 16, 2009

A Chicago man charged with sexually assaulting and cutting the throat of a 60-year-old woman was ordered held in lieu of $350,000 bond today.

Michael Mitchell, 49, of the 0-100 block of East Garfield Boulevard, was visiting the woman at her Bronzeville home late Thursday when he became angry with her for talking about a deceased boyfriend and financial matters, said Asst. State's Atty. Krista Peterson in Mitchell's bond hearing Saturday at the Cook County Criminal Court building.

During the altercation, Mitchell cut the woman's throat with a boxcutter and demanded sex, Peterson said, then left her home.

Later that night, the man remembered he had forgotten his bag at the woman's house and returned to the residence, Peterson said.

A witness saw the man and called police, and he was arrested at the home and found to have a bloody boxcutter in his pocket, she said.

The woman was treated at Stroger Hospital and released with several stitches across her throat, Peterson said.